Who's Tommy?

Who on earth is Tommy Ivarsson, and why should you read anything he writes or listen to what he says? That's a question many people ask. Give me five minutes of your time so I can introduce myself — that's all I'm asking right now. Consider it a first date where I nervously talk for five minutes before we say goodbye.

Born in 1985 and raised in the countryside on a small farm in Nygård, a few miles north of Gothenburg. My childhood was great, filled with playing, eating, doing sports, gaming, and going to school, just like most kids.

My childhood home – my sanctuary (with Awesome running trails)

During my childhood, nothing particularly special happened until I turned five. That's when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, marking the start of my interest in nutrition and its impact on the body. Growing up in the 1990s, I tried various sports and eventually became hooked on strength training at the age of 15.

Endurance sports were never my strength. Running on a football field for 90 minutes or competing in a 5,000-meter race was not my forte. Sure, it worked sometimes, but during my upbringing, knowledge about energy supply and blood sugar regulation was sparse, and I often felt fatigued during energy-demanding sports. Often, I tired out long before everyone else, even though our training was similar (sigh). As a kid, you don’t do boring things unless necessary, so I avoided aerobic sports. Instead, I was drawn to explosive sports that didn’t deplete blood sugar as quickly. I got significantly better at these, which was both fun and inspiring — I was hooked.

The first milestone for a five-year-old: learning to inject insulin. The first test subject was an ordinary orange.

Ball sports, racket sports, athletics, dance, powerlifting, weightlifting, acrobatics, and running are some of the sports I've tried so far. Right now, I'm particularly passionate about endurance sports in general.

I'm probably not the typical diabetic you might have met before. Beyond 25 years of living with diabetes, the past five years of academic studies in biomedicine and physiology have really deepened my understanding of how everything works. With increased understanding and knowledge comes the curiosity to experiment. Advice like eating a little and often for blood sugar is a good guideline, but a guideline can be bent quite a bit. :)

Between 2009 and 2014, I practiced a form of intermittent fasting—something that was quite new in strength training at the time. I ate 1–2 meals each day. Usually, it was the fast-breaking meal/breakfast at 12–1 PM and then a larger dinner at 7–8 PM. The timing, of course, wasn't set in stone—nutrition should be simple.

During the same period, I dieted and competed in bodybuilding. I started my diet at a body weight of 87 kg and weighed in at 72 kg on stage three months later. Afterwards, Simon and I held a personal eating competition with the goal of reaching 100 kg body weight. Simon won that bout, and I gave up at 97 kg. So yes, I've experimented on the aesthetic front to sculpt the body I wanted.

After bodybuilding came powerlifting and weightlifting, where I maintained between 85–90 kg. At this stage, I was about as fit as a 90-year-old.

• Deadlift 230 kg
• Squat 180 kg
• Bench press 140 kg
• Clean and jerk 110 kg, Snatch 85 kg

Powerlifting isn't quite like this. However, incorporating a bit of strongman training can be fun too.

In 2009, I started the biomedical program in Halmstad and by 2014, I had graduated with a master's degree. During those years, I learned an incredible amount and now I want to use that knowledge to teach others. Not only does it add value to my life, but I'm also thrilled to be someone who's contributed to elevating our Swedish athletes in the rankings.

The program lasted 4.5 years. I completed the last half-year of my master's at 50 percent and conducted and wrote my thesis on Foam Rolling at a steady pace. Without going into too much detail, I want to emphasize that academia has instilled in me a deep respect for what we understand about our bodies and their performance capabilities today.

However, if you're not passionate and don't love what you learn, it tends to fade away. This holds true no matter what you're involved in. For me, the foundation of my current knowledge was established during my education: understanding source criticism, reference checking, and humility. Recognizing that the world is never black or white—especially when it comes to human physiology. I enjoy reading insightful or inspiring books; right now, I'm reading "Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness" by Scott Jurek and Steve Friedman. It's inspirational, not academic literature per se. Don't assume what's written in a book is the ultimate truth if there are no references. Anybody can write and publish a book, so take it for what it is.

But who am I to judge a book's content, really? I read, absorb the information, and share it—but when I do, I'm careful to mention where I got the information. This way, you as a listener don't consider it the ultimate truth. I'm not perfect by any means, I'm just human!

I've always been more theoretical than practical. Sure, I've worked as a gardener, industrial worker, and forklift driver — practical jobs where the coffee is always blacker than night, spotless break rooms are rare, and the hierarchy is often the same everywhere. I moved out at 22, bought a house that I renovated over three years, tinkered with cars, got a motorcycle, converted ride-on mowers into party vehicles, operated a brushcutter, and more. There are plenty of examples, but moving to Halmstad gave me a fresh start.

Nowadays, I'm more goal-oriented, structured, and tenacious as a small business owner. Admittedly, I still work part-time in a warehouse to keep some money in my pocket, but I have a clear goal: to achieve something much bigger in the world — at least in the part of the world I'm passionate about, namely athletic performance. Actually, sports don't even have to be involved; human performance is what excites me.

I started running a few years ago. At the end of 2014, I ran at a 7 min/km pace for 3 km (5 km felt like a long run). A year later, I ran my first half marathon, the Gothenburg Half Marathon, where I maintained an average pace of 5:15 min/km. The energy is in the body to handle such races — at least as long as the energy intake is sufficient (110 grams/hour was enough in Gothenburg).

As you might know, Simon and I run Umara. That’s where my focus is, and I hope you truly appreciate what we do. After all, we're just two small nerdy, knowledge-hungry, and innovative guys from Halmstad who love what we do. I have to admit that we probably wouldn't have done it if no one believed in us. The support we get from our partners, our families, and you athletes allows us to keep our Focus — Follow One Course until Success. 😉

1. Different sized feet: the left is size 43 and the right is size 45 (a difference of 11 mm).
2. Webbed toes (two on each foot).
3. Experiences blood pressure drops and feelings of faintness whenever someone else gives him an injection (he takes five himself a day).
4. Has a preference for dark, flavorful beers with a strong character.
5. Very uninterested in sports in general.